The Girard Public Library will host a presentation on the life of Girard native and professional baseball player Frank Wickware.

 

Wickware was born in Girard in 1888 and moved to Coffeyville in 1906. Wickware was a noted pitcher, throwing a no-hitter for a Muskogee team against Fort Worth when he was just 19 years old. He would later play for teams such as the Chicago Leland Giants and the Brooklyn Royal Giants.

 

He once faced another Coffeyville great Walter Johnson in a pitching duel in 1913. The game lasted only 5 ½ innings before the game was called due to nightfall. Wickware struck out 11 and gave up only two hits in the 1-0 win.

 

Wickware was inducted into the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame in 2011. Presenter Phil Dixon will also do a presentation on the Kansas City Monarchs baseball team. The program happens this Saturday at noon at the Girard Public Library located at 128 West Prairie Street and is made possible by Humanities Kansas..